


life ain't always fair (but hell is living in resentment)

by Anonymous



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Dark Tony Stark, Grooming, Identity Reveal, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, Other, Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Rape Recovery, Social Media, Spider-Man Identity Reveal, Superior Iron Man Vol 1. (2015)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Peter has had a crush on Tony Stark for the longest time. Maybe it's why Tony targeted him.
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Flash Thompson, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker & Flash Thompson, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Flash Thompson, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 14
Kudos: 111
Collections: Anonymous





	life ain't always fair (but hell is living in resentment)

**Author's Note:**

> this is. a vent fic bc i actually really hate starker and it triggers me bc i was groomed when i was younger And i was sexually abused before that. this is about recovery, and how recovery never really ends. also the title is from Learn to Let Go by Kesha

Peter has never felt so fucking stupid in his life. He's Spider-Man, a vigilante with super strength and a sixth sense that warns him of danger. Yet, he still ignored it. The StarkTech suit was an exact replica of the one he made for himself at 14, except it would vacuum seal around his body, and had an AI. While Peter knows he is going to miss Karen, he's glad to be going back to the suit he made for himself. 

After the entire situation with The Vulture, Mr. Stark had actually started to take an active role in Peter's life. The Stark Internship became a real internship that focused on engineering. Peter worked in Mr. Stark's personal lab. Looking back on it, Peter wishes he turned down the internship like he did the spot on the Avengers.

He takes a deep breath and turns to May. All he can think of is the good things Mr. Stark has done. He can't really convince himself that this is the same man that saved the world. 

"Peter, please talk to me," May says. She places her hand on his shoulder and sits next to him on the couch. "I haven't seen you like this since…" May trails off and Peter knows exactly what she means.

Peter nods, glancing at the StarkTech suit on the coffee table. "I wanna burn that suit," he says. When he looks at May, he sees confusion and concern. "I'll go back to my old suit, the one I made."

"What happened?" Her voice has the same tone that she had when she and Ben finally got him to open up about Skip when he was 11.

He hates that he's making her go through this again. This is going to be worse than the trial with Skip. "You were right about Mr. Stark," he says. Peter looks at his hands, picking at the skin. "He's an awful person."

May doesn't say anything. She's waiting for him to confirm that Tony is just a selfish billionaire. He hates that he's going to have to explain that it's worse than that. 

"I thought I was just being paranoid," he begins. "My spider sense would go off when he'd stand too close, or when he'd put his hand on my shoulder. When he'd touch my back, over time his hand would get lower and lower. I should have told you when it started."

May moves her hand from his shoulder, cupping the back of his head, and pulling him close to her. He leans on her and wraps his arms around her. "Oh Peter," she says as he starts to cry.

"When my-" Peter hiccups. "When my spider sense went off I thought it was just… the stuff with Skip making me paranoid. I should have known."

"It's not your fault, baby."

He wishes he could believe her.

* * *

Apparently, Pepper Potts had absolutely no idea about what her ex had been doing with Peter. May had been given her number when they were arranging the internship. She’s grateful to have gotten the number instead of Tony’s. She has a feeling that if she called Tony to confront him about it, the man would have just denied it or said something manipulative in order to change the subject.

“Hello,” Pepper greets as she answers the phone.

May cradles Peter’s head in her lap as she let him sleep. “Ms. Potts, this is May Parker and I’m calling to cancel Peter’s internship with Mr. Stark. Permanently.”

Despite having enhanced hearing, Peter doesn’t stir. Pepper sounds to be fully attentive at the statement. “I’m sorry, did you just say Peter is quitting the internship?”

“Yes, and I want your advice on how to get that man arrested,” May ignores the heat in her face as tears finally fall from her eyes. “Unless you knew the whole time, then I’ll just ask the lawyer that Peter met through Daredevil.”

There’s shuffling on the other end, and May hears heels clacking on a floor, then a door shutting. “What happened? What did Tony do?”

May sniffs and looks at the ceiling. “Peter’s been acting off for months,” she takes her hand out of Peter’s hair and wipes her face. “He finally told me what’s been going on and-” she inhales sharply to lower her volume. She doesn’t want Peter to wake up. “Tony’s been grooming him, and it got physical,” she whispered. “Peter is so fucking trusting, and he’s been abused like this before when he was 11, just six years ago. Six years, I couldn’t keep him safe either time.”

“May, this isn’t your fault at all. This is all on Tony. I thought I was done dealing with his bullshit after the Hammer stuff in ‘09. God, I’m so sorry this happened. I’ll keep Tony in the state, and contact the authorities on your behalf.”

“I don’t need you to do that for me-”

Pepper interrupts her harshly. “No offense, Mrs. Parker, but this isn’t like some teacher taking advantage of a student. Tony has political influence, he’s a genius and a billionaire. Even without my support, he still has more money than is reasonable.”

May knows this, but it still feels like a slap to the face. “Okay,” she says. She puts her hand back in Peter’s hair and rubs circles on his scalp with her nails. This always calmed him down when he was sick or when his depression made him get really low. “I’m keeping Peter home from school tomorrow. He needs a break. You can deal with the stuff you need tonight, but make sure anything we have to do starts tomorrow instead of today.”

“I’m sure FRIDAY has surveillance footage that I can access and send to validate the claim. The suit Tony made will probably have important things too-”

“You’re suggesting turning the Spider-Man suit in as evidence?”

Pepper sighs. “The internship was closely tied to Spider-Man things, so pursuing this will out Peter, but it will protect him from Tony.”

May looks at Peter’s relaxed face. He looks younger than he has since Ben died. “Give me a second,” she says to Pepper before sitting her phone on the table beside the StarkTech suit. She rubs her hand on Peter’s face. “Peter, baby, wake up,” she says, lightly tapping his cheek.

He furrows his brow and turns his face further into her lap. She smiles and shakes his shoulder. “No,” he murmurs.

“We have to talk, but you can go back to sleep right after,” May promises. Peter stretches and rolls over so that he can look at her. “I love you, and I’m doing everything I can to bring him to justice.”

Peter stares blankly at her, but she knows he’s thinking of about a million different scenarios. “What do we need to talk about?” His voice is scratchy from crying and then falling asleep dehydrated.

May pushes his hair back out of his face. “Pepper didn’t know about it, but I’m on the phone with her right now. She said the suit he made should go to the authorities for analysis or something.”

“She wants me to reveal my identity,” Peter closes his eyes. “What if someone hurts you? I have enemies, May.” He opens his eyes and looks at her. “I can take care of myself, but you’re not a superhero.”

May frowns. “I’m perfectly capable, thank you very much.”

Peter sighs and sits up. He grabs her phone and puts Pepper on speaker. “If we reveal my identity would the pros outweigh the cons?”

“Yes,” Pepper states. She sounds extremely confident in this. “It explains his connection to you, and part of the grooming process.”

Peter stiffens at that word. Grooming. He’s heard it about a million times when watching documentaries and video essays about predators. They both have. May remembers a specific case that Peter’s been invested in since 2016; some YouTuber taking in a teenage girl and grooming her. His most recent update to her was that Chris Hansen was interviewing victims.

“It could protect other teenagers that might get internships with him,” May finds herself saying. She hates having to appeal to his self-sacrificing side, but she knows it’s the only way he’ll stop thinking about protecting her from supervillains. “He’d go away, and this won’t happen to anyone else.”

Peter looks at her. He’s staring into her eyes, and May sees Richard when he and Mary told Ben and May that the second pregnancy ended in a stillbirth. There’s a desperation, a wish that it wasn’t real. “Are you sure?” He asks. May nods, and Peter sighs. He says “okay,” the same way Mary did when she’d hang up the phone after a call from work.

“I’ll keep May updated with my part,” Pepper assures. “Just rest, you have a long day tomorrow.”

* * *

**Billionaire Superhero Tony Stark Accused by Intern in MeToo Era**

_By Edward Brock_

In 2017, reporters captured photographs of _Anthony Edward Stark_ , owner of _Stark Industries_ , and spokesperson for the Avengers Initiative, with a teenage boy in New York City. The first presumption was that Tony found out he had a son he didn’t know about. Just a few months before that initial sighting, Stark had announced his break up with Virginia Potts, the CEO of his company. Now, in 2019, we learn the truth about what was really happening behind closed doors in Stark Tower.

When he was hired as Stark’s personal intern, Peter Parker was 15 years old. He was in his sophomore year at a STEM school in New York, a school that he got into on an academic scholarship. He’s been on the Academic Decathlon team at the Midtown School of Science and Technology, and he’d been a fan of Stark since he was a kid. So, when Tony Stark gave him the internship, he felt like his dream came true. Reports show that he quit several different extracurricular activities to make time for the internship. This didn’t seem to raise red flags for anyone, aside from concern for his time management skills. 

With the new information we have, this seems more and more sinister. Peter Parker is now 17, living with his aunt in Queens, New York, and he quit the internship with Tony Stark. Potts alerted authorities the night that Parker quit, because Stark had been abusing him when he convinced his aunt that he was taking her nephew on “retreats”. Stark is being investigated for enticement and child molestation.

Since the one that alerted authorities was Virginia Potts, we can assume the accusation is at least somewhat credible. Can we trust superheroes to keep us safe when the face of the Avengers has been harming a child under our noses for years?

* * *

Flash Thompson likes to think he’s on his way to becoming a better person since Spider-Man saved his life in the Washington Monument. He hasn’t been physically violent with anyone in about two years. He counts that as a victory. 

He hadn’t had time to read the news on Twitter this morning, and he usually waits until Phillip DeFranco uploads so he can get any news he missed. When he walks into Midtown, everyone is talking, reading things on their phones. He gets to his locker and sees Ned and MJ talking frantically at Neds locker. He doesn’t eavesdrop, he swears. He just overhears them trying not to yell.

“Did you know?”

“No! Peter stopped talking about the internship after the newness wore off.”

Flash furrows his brows as he listens. Parker was still pretending he knew Tony Stark personally? Jesus Christ, what a loser. He probably only got coffee for receptionists.

“I had to find out through a fucking article on Eddie Brock’s website,” MJ hisses. “I saw the headline and thought ‘oh bullshit Peter wouldn’t associate with someone like that’. Then I read it and-”

“He’s not answering any texts aside from saying he’s busy talking to cops and lawyers.”

That’s interesting. Cops and lawyers. Huh.

“I can’t believe I didn’t realize something was wrong.”

“You’re upset you didn’t notice? I knew he was acting the same fucking way he was as when that babysitter was doing the same shit. I fucking failed him because I didn’t say anything to May sooner.”

“Y’know what? This is no one's fault except Stark himself.”

Flash widens his eyes and pulls his phone out. He quickly Googles _Tony Stark Eddie Brock_ and clicks on the most recent article.

“Holy shit.”

* * *

Peter’s been through this before, just nowhere near as vigorous. When he was 11, Skip was 16 and his babysitter. Now, Peter’s an enhanced superhero, and his monster is Iron Man, or as the man has been referring to himself lately - Superior Iron Man. Pepper somehow managed to get video from FRIDAY and turned it in to the police, and the police collected the StarkTech suit. 

“Since you’re Spider-Man, you’ve got super strength, right?” Officer Jefferson Davis asks. Peter’s met the officer before, and he knows he’s just doing his job, but it hurts. He knows Officer Davis doesn’t like vigilantes.

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you use that against him?”

Peter pushes down the urge to vomit. “I don’t like hurting people,” he states. He takes a deep breath and looks at his hands. He could have easily thrown Mr. Stark across the room, broken his hand as soon as it touched him. “And I froze. When I was a kid, after Iron Man was announced to the world, I became obsessed with the technology and the origin story. He saved my life at the Stark Expo when I was a kid. Then he turned out to be just as bad as the bad guys.”

Officer Davis nods. “Arguably worse,” he says. “He took advantage of your trust and your kindness.”

More questions were asked, and Peter answers them to the best of his ability. At one point he pierces the skin of his palm with his nails as he recounts when Mr. Stark had offered him something, saying ‘I’ll give it to you if you tell me I’m your boyfriend’. Peter thought it was a joke, so he said ‘fine, you’re my boyfriend’. Then Mr. Stark kissed him on the mouth when he was on his way out. He’d sat in silence on the ride home.

Tears spill down his face and he wipes the blood on his palm onto his jeans. Officer Davis’ eyes track his hand. “Let me see,” he says, gesturing to Peter’s hand. Peter holds his hand out, and shows the man his palm as it finished healing.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Peter puts his hand back on his lap. “I’ve had worse.”

“My son is a big fan of Spider-Man,” Jefferson states. “He says I don’t get it because I’m loyal to a corrupt system, and that Uncle Aaron knows that Spider-Man is good.”

Peter raises his eyebrows. “Aaron Davis?” Jefferson nods. “He helped me with the Vulture, said he didn’t want those illegal weapons to be on the streets because of his nephew.”

Jefferson looks down with a small smile. “He loves Miles, he’s just gotta clean his act up to be a better influence.”

Peter smiles at the man. “Be sure to tell him that Spider-Man said thank you.”

“Will do.”

The ice was sufficiently broken, and Peter actually feels relieved. Maybe people just need to realize he’s a person, the things he does as Spider-Man are because he wants to help. He’s a kid just helping people because no one was able to help him before it was too late.

He likes to think that he’s doing the right thing. He hopes he’s doing the right thing.

* * *

It was just a few weeks since Mr. Stark kissed Peter. He took him to the Compound for the weekend, saying there would be training in the gym since the equipment Captain America used was still there. Peter was 16, and he had to admit that he had a crush on Mr. Stark for years. 

They were eating dinner in Mr. Starks personal suite. "Did you know I've had sex tapes leaked?"

Peter choked on his food and coughed. "What?"

"Yeah, a couple people over the years leaked sex tapes," Mr. Stark stated casually, as if the entire thing wasn't a big deal. "They're probably still on the internet. Just search Tony Stark on pornhub."

Peter wasn't sure if he wanted to search for the videos or if he wanted to shrivel up and lay under the blankets on May's bed. There was an urge to do both. He took his phone out of his pocket. Before he could make a decision Mr. Stark interrupted her.

"FRIDAY, pull up the highest rated one on the projector in my room," he stood and Peter looked up at him. "Come on, Pete."

* * *

Michelle Jones has been following the social media presence of the MeToo movement since it started. She read _Lolita_ around the time it started, much to her mother's chagrin. She even got Peter and Ned hooked on following the story of Onision and all of his victims because she kept pestering the groupchat with screenshots from her blog _@spider-man-against-onision_. Despite all that, nothing could have ever prepared her for the shitstorm that is Twitter after news got out that Spider-Man is a 17 year old boy, and he’s accusing Iron Man of grooming and sexual assault. Tony Stark hasn’t commented on the allegation, but Pepper Potts confirmed that there is sufficient evidence that she personally turned in on behalf of the Parkers.

**Spider-Man SUX** _@tonystarkstan_

Imagine being an irrelevant street vigilante that lies and says the man that saved Earth assaulted you, therefore making actual victims look bad. Can’t relate. #tonystarkisinnocent

> **Michelle Jones** _@nakedandbloodless_
> 
> @tonystarkstan imagine accusing a repeated CSA survivor of lying bc ud rather suck the cock of a billionaire that only stpped $$ing wpns bc he lrnd the wpns he made were bein used by ppl that werent “the good guys” in a war that Americans had no business in #istandwithpeterparker

Something MJ hated about Twitter was the character limit. She looks over her response and feels like an idiot because she knows she can’t say more in one message, but doesn’t want to turn it into a thread. She sighs and searches the hashtag she used, rather than continuing to torture herself with the one trending below it. 

**Johnny Storm ✔** _@humantorch_

I’ve worked w Spidey b4 & would call him a best friend of mine. he wouldn’t lie abt this. #istandwithpeterparker

She retweets that one with a small smile on her face. She feels a hand touch her shoulder, and she turns. “Jesus Christ!” She shouts when she sees Flash standing behind her.

“Is it true?” he asks frantically.

MJ puts her phone in her pocket. “What part?”

He looks at her like he thinks she’s stupid. “Parker being Spider-Man. If he is, he wrecked my dads fucking car.”

“It’s true, and Tony Stark is a piece of shit.”

“Stark has been a piece of shit,” Flash states. “He signed the Accords, despite them wanting to register mutants.”

She studies his face and realizes he’s serious. MJ realizes that Flash genuinely is showing that he cares about people other than himself. “Yeah,” she says warily. “And Peter let his crush on Stark cloud his judgement on that whole thing.”

MJ hates saying that, but it was true for the way Peter reacted when Stark recruited him. He admitted to it, even. But it still sucks, it feels like victim blaming. She takes her phone out and opens Twitter again.

**You Know Who I Am ✔** _@tonystark_

Certain allegations have been made against me. I'm a whore, and I did have sex with my intern.

MJ takes a deep breath and hands her phone to Flash. Flash reads the Tweet and lets out a low whistle. "For a genius he just made the stupidest legal decision anyone accused of anything could do. Like. Kevin Spacey levels of stupid response to child molestation accusations."

She finds herself inclined to agree with him. Despite the similarities in the "defenses" both men had, MJ is more angry at Stark than she is Spacey.

No one hurts her friends and gets away with it.

* * *

Peter has a lot of messages on social media, so he turns off notifications for accounts he doesn't follow. He replies to texts from his friends, ignoring the obvious way they hesitate to talk as freely as they did before. He can tell MJ is very angry, he doesn't even have to have push notifications for her Twitter on in order to know that. Ned on the other hand seems to have that same guilty sadness that May carries around her like the dirt cloud on that one kid in Charlie Brown. He's already told May a dozen times that it wasn't her fault, that he wouldn't have been as okay with putting a stop to it if she had found out any earlier.

That confused her every time he said it until he sighed and said, "I liked it, until I stopped liking it. I knew it wasn't okay, but I'd had a crush on him forever, and I didn't want him to get in trouble."

He can't get the sight of her silent tears out of his mind. She kept telling him it wasn't his fault, and he knows this. 

He knows it's not his fault, but he can't get it through his head that his crush was normal. Mr. Stark is at fault, he saw that Peter had a crush on him and was vulnerable, and he twisted it for the pleasure of having a young person that practically worshipped the ground he walked on.

It's a Wednesday night, so he expects the notification from Chris Hansen's YouTube channel. He sees that the interview is going to be with someone named Regina, and he wants to watch it, but he can't. He physically can't bring himself to click the notification. Instead, he clears his notifications.

"May," he calls out his bedroom door. He hears the TV mute. "I'm gonna go on patrol," he informs her.

There's a moment of silence. "Stay safe, be home by 11."

With that, the sound gets turned back on, and Peter hears Pepper Potts greet an audience. He closes his door and changes into his old suit. It's the one he made between his first suit and the StarkTech suit. A nice model that he made for himself. 

Climbing through his window feels like a breath of fresh air. Out here he's not a victim. He's Spider-Man. He helps people like Peter Parker, even if people now know that Peter Parker dons the mask. He puts his phone in one of the discreet pockets of the suit. He needs to have a way to contact the police when he catches a criminal, and he needs to be available for May to contact him. 

The sun has already set, and he sees people walking down the street as they head out for dinner or leave to head home. Some wave at him, and he waves back. A kid asks for a picture, and he takes one. The little boy's mom holds her son's hand. "He's always loved you," she says. 

The boy nods. "You let people know spiders aren't scary."

That makes Peter smile. He crouched in front of the boy to make eye contact. "What's your name?"

"Ben," the boy says with a smile, moving his mother's hand to partially block his face.

Peter refrains from reacting. "I had an uncle named Ben," he informs. "He was my dad's brother, so my dad made my middle name his name. I'm Peter."

Ben gasps, as if this hasn't been public information for the past few days. "Thank you for telling me," he says.

"Anything for people that know spiders are cool," Peter offers a fist bump, and stands when Ben bumps it.

Ben's mother gives him a tight smile. "I didn't talk to him about all the news since he's so young. I just told him that Iron Man hurt you."

Peter nods and tilts his head. "You could give him the Bad Touch talk. Help him understand, let him know that if anything happens to him he can talk to you. Then tell him that Spider-Man told his guardians when it happened to him."

"Thank you," she says. She looks relieved, and Peter feels the tightness in his chest diminish. "God I didn't even think of that. Oh my God, I should take him home so I can talk to his sister too."

"I won't keep you any longer than necessary. It was nice meeting you both."

"You too!"

Needless to say, patrol is off to a good start.

* * *

Michelle stayed home when her mother and brother went out to eat. Her reasoning was that she had already had dinner when she was hanging out with Cindy Moon, and that Pepper Potts had a press conference at 8. Ms. Potts announces to the world that Colonel James Rhodes is working to pardon Captain America's team of Avengers. 

Just as the press conference comes to a close, Michelle's mother and brother get home. "We saw Spider-Man!" Ben shouts as MJ turns off the TV.

"He took a picture with Ben," Andrea adds with a smile as she closes the door. 

Ben runs to MJ and jumps onto her lap. MJ hugs him tightly and laughs. "Oh that's great. That's probably why he wasn't answering his texts."

There's a loud thud and MJ turns to see that Andrea dropped her purse. "You have Spider-Man's phone number?"

MJ nods. "I've been friends with Peter since I became captain of the decathlon team."

Andrea sits on the couch after she picks her purse up. She places it on the coffee table in front of them. "Maybe you can help me give Ben the Bad Touch talk," she says, pulling him onto her lap. "Spidey gave me the idea."

MJ bites the inside of her cheeks and looks at her hands. "Okay."

"Ben, baby, do you know what Iron Man did to Spider-Man?" Andrea asks.

Ben grabs MJ's shirt, causing her to look at him. "He hurt him," he says.

MJ nods. "Yeah, but Peter didn't always think he was hurting him. You can be hurt and not realize it," she grabs his hand. "Iron Man took advantage of Peter liking him."

"He touched Spider-Man where no one should touch you," Andrea says. She rubs Ben's shoulders. "If anyone touches your private parts, you tell me."

"You might get told that they'll hurt your friends or one of us, but you have to tell one of us," MJ adds. "Peter didn't tell anyone for a while because he didn't want to get Iron Man in trouble and because Iron Man gave him nice things."

Andrea looks at her with sad eyes. "I love you, baby," she squeezes Ben to her. "Do you get what we're saying."

"Yes," Ben nods. "It's like those crime shows where the people go to jail forever."

MJ laughs. "Yeah, just like that."

* * *

 **Stark International ✔** _@starkindustries_

A month ago, @pparkerphotos went to the authorities with his story of assault. Today, Tony Stark has been convicted. All profits for this coming year will go to RAINN.

**New Captain America** _@samwilson_

Come back to America, get promoted to Captain America bc Steve retired, and find out Stark was creeping on Spider-Man. The past two years have been wild.

**Official Spider-Man** _@pparkerphotos_

Glad to be back on social media! I needed a break, processing shit and ignoring messages from people that still stan my abuser.

> **Michelle Jones** _@nakedandbloodless_
> 
> @pparkerphotos nice layout loser
> 
> **Official Spider-Man** _@pparkerphotos_
> 
> @nakedandbloodless 💜 (its purple bc red and blue-)
> 
> **Michelle Jones** _@nakedandbloodless_
> 
> @pparkerphotos svfkisodhsod you fucking dork I know color theory I'm-

**Spider-Man SUX** _@tonystarkstan_

@pparkerphotos how does it feel getting an innocent man sent to prison with a life sentence?

> **Official Spider-Man** _@pparkerphotos_
> 
> @tonystarkstan wow you've got Big Onision Fan energy. Dont need those bad vibes.

**Spider-Man SUX** _@tonystarkstan_

Shxkhskchdocjs Spider-Man blocked me

**New Captain America ✔** _@samwilson_

Oh I'm verified now? Rad

> **Miles Morales** _@noexpectations_
> 
> @samwilson congrats dude!!! Glad you're back

**Official Spider-Man ✔** @ _pparkerphotos_

For everyone emailing me asking to make a movie/documentary abt me; no.

**Official Spider-Man ✔** _@pparkerphotos_

Oh I'm verified now too @samwilson

**Pepper ✔** _@virginiapotts_

@pparkerphotos did not get any money in Tony's conviction, the Parker family never asked for any money, please stop harassing them.

**Little soup boy** _@chompachompa_

Did some deep research on the st*rk vs p*rker case and,,,,, I would die for Spider-Man

> **Little soup boy** _@chompachompa_
> 
> Spidey is the reason that SI profits are going to RAINN, and hes really not getting any money from this. He's still going out and helping people.

**Watch Birds of Prey Feb 7th** _@harleenquinn_

Just saw @pparkerphotos and a very pretty girl at the movies during a showing of The Turning

> **Watch Birds of Prey Feb 7th** _@harleenquinn_
> 
> He kept hiding in her shoulder when the stuff w Miles was going on. She said "its worse in the book"
> 
> **Michelle Jones** _@nakedandbloodless_
> 
> @harleenquinn he's usually good w horror movies but I forgot the whole,,,,, sexual abuse subtext storyline
> 
> **Watch Birds of Prey Feb 7th** _@harleenquinn_
> 
> @nakedandbloodless you watch horror movies w Spider-Man?
> 
> **Michelle Jones** _@nakedandbloodless_
> 
> @harleenquinn yeah he's my best friend and he's a fucking dork

* * *

Peter had been pushing to be allowed to go back to school. When he's given permission. - with a tentative _if you're sure you're ready_ \- he's all too excited. He gets ready the same way he used to, now in his newly decorated room, and he takes the subway, then walks. He ignores the doubletakes people have when they see him, and makes his way to school perfectly fine.

Except, it's overwhelming hearing the hallway chatter turn to silence when people spot him. Whispers break the silence. _'Oh my god, he's the one that got Tony Stark sent to prison.' 'You're fucking with me.' 'I can't believe he's Spider-Man and he let that happen to him.' 'I guess the internship was taking a cock up the ass.'_

He takes a deep breath and bites the inside of his cheek so hard he tastes blood. Peter can't let public opinion control him. He can't freak out. 

So why is he shaking as he walks to his locker?

Ned and MJ are at their lockers, which are conveniently on either side of his. They're talking, and MJ rolls her eyes at something Ned says. 

Why can't Peter hear anything?

Someone touches him, and he jumps. His eyes are wide, and he's breathing heavily. He looks at the person that touched him, and sees that Flash is below him. When did he get on the ceiling? Flash shakes himself out of whatever shock he's in and says something Peter still can't hear. 

Why is everything so muffled?

He's hyperventilating. Flash turns his head somewhere, and Peter follows his gaze to see Ned and MJ making their way to them. 

"Peter," Ned says. Thank fuck, Peter can hear again. "Breathe," Ned continues.

Peter is breathing. Why is Ned telling him to breathe? He's taking in so much oxygen. Like, _so_ much. 

"Peter, you're having a panic attack," MJ says, louder than Ned was.

That makes sense. Peter looks around below him. Students are standing still, staring at him. He looks at MJ, then Ned. Ned inhales in an overexaggerated fashion, and Peter feels himself following suit. They hold their breath together, then exhale in that same overexaggerated way. They go through the motions until Peter finds himself orienting himself so that he's standing between Ned, MJ, and Flash.

"Dude, I didn't even consider you'd react like that," Flash rushes his words out. "I'm sorry, man. I just could see you were freaking out, and wanted to distract you with something."

Peter looks at Flash with furrowed brows, then looks at Ned. "Is he forreal?"

Ned nods. "Yeah, while you've been gone he's been sitting with us at lunch."

"He's cool once he drops the douchebag act," MJ adds.

Peter looks at Flash and shrugs. "Thanks I guess. Sorry I jumped onto the ceiling. It was either that or I would have accidentally punched you in the face."

Flash lets out a nervous laugh. "It's cool, Parker."

The rest of the day goes smoothly. It's normal, aside from the pitying looks and whispers Peter ignores in order to avoid another panic attack, except Flash is nice. He sits with them at lunch, and he's actually really funny when Peter is in on the joke and it's not at his expense. 

After school, Peter goes on patrol. He helps a kid his age find their lost dog. He stops a grand theft auto, and makes fun of the perp while doing so. He runs into Officer Davis while the man is off-duty with his wife and son.

"I'm Miles, it's nice to meet you Spider-Man," the boy says. He's gotta be 14.

Peter smiles and shakes Miles' hand, he tries not to react visibly when the touch causes his spider sense to flare. "Nice to meet you Miles, I'm Peter."

**Author's Note:**

> MJ's twitter @ is a reference to the Black Dahlia murder bc Elizabeth Short was found naked and bloodless


End file.
